The Times We Tried
by redpenkiller
Summary: It wasn't easy. It wasn't hard either. Let's just say that we'll never do it again. For the writing game 2.


** The redpenkiller is BACK, BABY! Ok, calm down. This is for the writing game prompt (again) originally hosted by geekinthepink23, but now dear winner Akirafanatic is judging! I hope you enjoy and I apologize for any OOC-ness. Like seriously. **

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><p>"Haruichi!" Ryousuke Kominato called from the dugout.<p>

Haruichi Kominato turned around. "Yes, aniki?"

"Can you get me a glass of milk from the cafeteria? Water is not helping."

His little brother smiled. "Sure thing." In the corner of his eye, he saw Eijun and Furuya nod. He nodded back.

Once Haruichi left the baseball field, they treaded after him slowly enough to make it seem like they weren't stalking the younger Kominato.

It was the end of afternoon practice, but the sun still wasn't setting.

Bad news.

Haruichi reached the cafeteria and asked the lunch lady if he could use the fridge.

"Make sure you close it when you're done," she said sternly.

"Yes ma'am," he answered politely.

The second the lunch lady left, the short boy opened the fridge and took out a carton of low-fat milk with a glass cup. _'Aniki hates low-fat milk,'_ he thought.

He poured the creamy mixture into the glass and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, two noisy pitchers made their way to the cafeteria with one of them carrying something huge in their hands.

Haruichi sighed exasperatedly. "Eijun, Furuya, where were you guys? You took hours just to find one thing?"

Eijun huffed. "It's Furuya's fault! He kept on poking them back and forth, wasting our time!"

Furuya looked away. "Hmph."

Haruichi rolled his eyes. "Eijun, put it inside. Aniki's waiting."

Said teen nodded as he plopped a big brown spider into the milk and hopped back. "This is so gross!"

The younger Kominato smirked for the first time in his life. "I know."

Back at the dugout, Ryousuke sighed. "Where is Haruichi? Kuramochi, do you know what's taking him so long?"

"N-No, I know nothing!" Kuramochi Yoiuchi lied.

"Hmm…"

"Aniki!"

Ryousuke looked to his left and saw Haruichi running towards him (carefully) with an _ordinary_ glass of milk.

"Here you go, brother."

"Thanks. I was getting worried since you were taking too long."

_ 'DRINK IT!' _Eijun and Furuya yelled mentally.

The third year put the glass to his lip and drank the whole thing in one swig, shaking his head as he experienced a small brain freeze.

Kuramochi and the freshman trio gasped. "What?!"

Walking away, Ryousuke smiled. "Wow. I always wondered what spider tasted like."

"BRUH!" Haruichi groaned uncharacteristically, falling on his back.

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><p>Miyuki froze. His glasses fogged up. "Wait. You want me to do WHAT?"<p>

Eijun reluctantly dropped to his knees and bowed, forcing his head down. "PLEASE! Miyuki, Tetsu-san, do this for us!"

Furuya's vibe alone gave the two upperclassmen a sense of desperation. "Please."

Tetsu remained indifferent. "Usually, I'd decline, but since I see that you guys are really passionate about this, I guess I have no choice but to say yes."

"Tetsu-san!" Miyuki shouted. He couldn't believe his ears. Did his senpai just agree to this stupid plot? He sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine."

Haruichi smiled. "Thank you guys so much! How can we ever repay you?"

Miyuki directed his sharp gaze towards Eijun and smirked. "I think you can repay me by calling me Miyuki-senpai from now on, ne, Sawamura? All the respect you give to other people except me is unacceptable."

"What about you, Yuki-senpai?" Haruichi asked.

"…"

Furuya coughed as he spoke. "I can get you a new metrocard in less than three days since you lost the old one."

The third year's eyes twinkled with interest. "Deal."

Eijun dusted his pants off and fist pumped the air. "Osu! Osu! Osu! Osu! Osu! Osu!"

"Sawamura, be quiet!" Miyuki remarked, a vein popping out of his forehead.

A few minutes later, everything was set into action.

Ryousuke had been invited to Tetsu's dorm for a lovely game of shogi on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

Lovely, huh?

Before he could knock on the door, it flew open and Tetsu motioned him to come in. "Nice timing," he said.

"I'm still surprised that you asked me to come and play," the short third year responded._ 'Since you suck so much.'_ He took off his shoes and walked in.

The door closed.

Kuramochi raised a brow as he passed the dorms. "Something bad is going to happe– Miyuki?"

Said teen hit his index finger against his pursed lips. "Shh! I'll get caught!"

The shortstop tiptoed over to him and lowered to the other teen's height since Miyuki was crouching. "What are you doing here?"

"Long story short, I'm waiting here. Now that you're here, that makes it even better."

_'What are you talking about?'_ Kuramochi thought.

Meanwhile in Tetsu's room, Ryousuke was eternally praying that this dreadful game would be over. _'He sucks… so much. It's not even funny.'_

Tetsu exhaled as he moved a piece two rows up. "Your turn."

As the younger Kominato looked at the board, the skilled batter quickly searched around his room until he found what he was looking for. Three well hidden bodies in his closet. A brunette's head popped out and Tetsu nodded stiffly, trying not to grab the attention of the pondering Ryousuke.

"Your turn."

Tetsu blinked. "Oh, yeah. My turn."

"Is something wrong? You seem to be spacing out. A lot. Think I didn't notice, huh?"

From inside the closet, Eijun cursed silently. "No! What if he knows what we're doing? We're screwed!

"Don't worry," Haruichi said, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "This'll work. I promise."

Furuya exhaled through his nose. "Let's give Yuki-senpai a signal. Miyuki-senpai must be blowing up outside by now."

"Yeah," the other pitcher agreed.

Ryousuke looked up from the board as he moved a piece. "May I request a bathroom break?"

"Sure thing," Tetsu said.

The short third year got up and stretched before walking out the door.

Perfect.

Miyuki heard the door open. "I-"

Kuramochi shushed him. "No, no, shut up! He's just going to the bathroom."

"How do you know that?"

The shortstop sucked his teeth cockily. "Please. I spend too much time with that guy to know what it sounds like when he's going to the bathroom. He shuffles his feet across the sand."

Miyuki shrugged, impressed. "Good analysis, Mr. Kuramochi."

"… No. Just no."

Back inside the room, the second the door shut, Tetsu sprang up from his sitting position and leaped to the closet, sliding it open with a bang.

"It didn't go exactly as planned, but at least this'll work better. I'll turn off the lights and you three will hide behind the bed. The first step Ryousuke steps inside, Sawamura jumps out– without a sound– and pulls the bag over his head. Got that?"

The three first years gave him a thumbs up.

As they made their way behind the bed, the captain dashed to the window and opened it. "Miyuki!"

The bespectacled teen looked up and saw his senpai. "Tetsu-san, Kuramochi joined."

"Yo," said teen announced.

Tetsu nodded. "Ok, good. That makes this easier. You remember the plan, right?"

"Of course," Miyuki responded, flashing his infamous grin. "If Ryo-san manages to escape the bag, I'll catch him by surprise. This is gonna be awe–"

Kuramochi's ear twitched. "I hear shuffling." He gasped. "Get back in position! He's coming!"

The captain slightly twitched in unprecedented shock. He secured all the windows as Miyuki and the shortstop hid behind the dorm where nobody could see them.

Eijun sweated in excitement. "I can't wait!"

Furuya sighed in annoyance. "Shh."

Everything was in place.

Nothing could go wrong.

Haruichi tensed as the door slowly opened. _'Aniki, I got you this time.'_

Ryousuke blinked (well, at least tried to). "Huh? Why is it dark in here–"

"HIYAA!" Eijun yelled, tarzan style. He lunged forward from behind the bed as he opened the brown sack.

Unfortunately, Ryousuke reacted just in time to sidestep him. The pitcher crashed into the bedside table, cursing in pain.

Haruichi smirked. "You can't see me, now you can!" Luckily, he made his own backup plan if Eijun happened to fail. He crouched down low to the ground and inched slowly to his brother from behind the bed. He brought a sack of his own.

Tetsu remained out of sight. He completed his part of the bargain. Now it was up to his kouhais.

With just enough space between him and his brother, Haruichi sprung from his position and proceeded to engulfed Ryousuke's head in the sack.

"Nice try," the third year sneered.

The pinch hitter froze. _'What?'_

Even with the lights off, Ryousuke grabbed his sibling's arm lightly (more like violently) and tossed him across the room, making him crash into the closet. "Aniki!"

Furuya huffed impatiently. "Guess I have no choice before he escapes!" Taking a deep breath, he somersaulted his way to his short senpai and tried to grab him by the ankle.

"Nice try," the latter sneered again. He jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the window sills, hoisting himself up. He opened the window easily and disappeared outside.

Tetsu sank down to the ground. _'I forgot to lock a window…'_

Miyuki shook. "Ryo-san escaped? No way!"

"Let's get him!" Kuramochi shouted.

Although he knew that the third year was far more agile than they were.

Ryousuke turned around and saw the two second years chasing after him. "This'll be interesting~"

Kuramochi caught up to him the fastest. He stretched his left arm up to the latter, trying to latch onto his shoulder, but Ryousuke ducked under and sidestepped to the right, making the shortstop fall on his tush.

Miyuki stopped running after him. "That's it, I quit. I'm done! This is pointless!"

Ryousuke smirked as he continued dashing away. "Maybe you guys could use this setup for next's Halloween party. Make sure to invite me."

Then he was gone.

Kuramochi coughed as he got up and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Damn it! Why did it have to turn out like this?"

Inside the room, Tetsu turned the lights back on. He cringed. The room was a disaster. The shogi pieces were scattered all over the floor, the furniture was partially flipped over, the flower pots were cracked. Oh, and a picture frame of his first year in Seidou just fell off its hook.

Furuya was the first one to sit up. His expression was the same as always: poker faced. "What just happened?"

"No idea," Eijun groaned, emerging from under the bedside table. "My head hurts~"

Haruichi clenched his fists as he crawled out of the closet, ignoring the pain that was throbbed in the back of his head. "Aniki…!"

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><p>That was it.<p>

This was the last straw.

If they failed, this would be the last time they tried and they would never speak of it again.

The following Sunday, Haruichi decided to give his schemes one last shot. He made phone calls to Yakushi and Inashiro.

He needed backup.

At about six o'clock, the two teams showed up at Seidou's front gate.

"Yakushi? What are you doing here?" Narumiya Mei asked, puzzled at the other team's presence.

"I could ask you the same thing, Inashiro's Narumiya Mei," Todoroki Raichi retorted, munching on his half eaten banana.

Don't worry. He had a lot more in his bag.

Masa-san sighed. "Kominato Haruichi said that he needed our help with something, so we decided to come on our day off."

Mei's eyes twinkled. "Which means that I get to see Furuya! Yippee!"

The stocky catcher blinked. "No. Just no."

Haruichi smiled as he saw the two Inashiro members bickering. All the third years (except for Ryousuke), all the second years, and all the first years were walking along with him.

Party time.

**One Hour Later**

After discussing the final plan, it was time.

Now or never.

Kuramochi told Ryousuke to meet him at baseball field diamond for an important announcement.

Meanwhile, everybody else hid behind the bleachers in silence.

Mei couldn't stop from himself from laughing. "Oh man, this is gonna be so funny! I can't wait to see the look on Kominato-kun's face!"

Miyuki rolled his eyes. "If the plan works, of course."

"Callate," Carlos warned. "He's coming."

Everyone shut their mouths the second they sensed Ryousuke's usual aura.

Kuramochi inhaled the refreshing afternoon before turning around, mustering the sweetest smile he could (oh god).

"Hi, Ryo-san. I'm glad you could come here."

Said teen shrugged. "As long as I'm not busy, it's fine. So? What do you want to talk about?"

The shortstop blushed. "Well… I just w-wanna say that you're t-the best senpai I ever had and that… I l-love… you."

Ryousuke blinked. "What?"

"Let me make this easier," Kuramochi said, his voice below a whisper. "Will you go out with me?"

Suddenly, a series of tongues clucking could be heard from behind the bleachers. Everybody popped up from their hiding position and snapped their fingers. "OR NAW?!"

Ryousuke stood stock still. Then he snapped out of it. He began laughing awkwardly as Kuramochi passed out from embarrassment. "Ok, you guys got me there. Nice job!"

Haruichi smiled triumphantly. "Finally! All in a week's work, aniki."

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><p><strong> DONE! Whew, that was hard! I just don't know why I end up rushing when there's a deadline. I was being lazy~ Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the one-shot and once again I'm sorry for any OOC-ness! Can't wait to read the other stories! Redpenkiller, signing out!<strong>


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